My Child's Fate
by Agile
Summary: Do you really think Darth Vader couldn't sense his own child on Alderaan?
1. Force

Darth Vader stalked down the corridor of Aldera Palace. Did Bail Organa truly believe that he could hide his child? His own flesh and blood, along with the shining Force signature?

He passed to unsuspecting guards, throwing them into a wall. Surely if his child was alive, so was Padmé, which meant Bail Organa was hiding her…right?

Once he had been able to feel the Force after his "surgery" he had asked his Master about her. He couldn't feel her light; it had left him after her ship had jumped into hyperspace.

"_It seems, in your anger, you killed her."_

But if he had killed her how could she have possibly have died?

But now he, Darth Vader, stood in front of an open door; silently walking into the nursery he reached out with the Force and searched for his child. Almost absentmindedly he wondered if the child was a boy or girl, he personally hoped for a son.

"Keep doing that and you'll wake her."

Anakin's eyes changed from blue to yellow, letting his newly found hate for Bail Organa submerse him in the Dark Side of the Force.

"You're a fool for stealing my child Organa. I can either kill you now or my Master can do it for you, he'll be most merciful."

"Somehow, I doubt that Lord Vader."

Bail Organa walked past him towards a crib in the further end of the room. Vader followed him, not letting the bundle in Organa's arms out of his sight.

"Give the child to me."

"Why? So you can kill her just like her mother."

"I DID NOT KILL HER!" He roared, he curbed his thirst for Organa's blood; the infant was still cradled in his arms.

Glancing down at the stirring infant, Bail Organa sighed, "thank you, she had just fallen asleep."

"Give _her_ to me Organa or I will kill you."

"Mhm," Organa mumbled, rocking the infant gently in his arms, "it's okay Leia, go back to sleep sweetie."

Vader stood still, Leia, the name sounded angelic. Leia Organa, Leia Amidala-Skywalker, it sounded perfect both ways.

Vader could only see the top of the girl's forehead, but that's where his eyes stayed.

"What will you do with her?"

Vader looked at Organa, the movement unnoticed because of the mask.

"I will raise her, give her the best education in the galaxy-"

"I can do that Anakin."

Vader stiffened at the use of his old name.

"I only wonder…" Bail Organa tilted his head slightly downward, looking at Leia, "can you love her? Can you give her the time and attention that she needs? Or better yet, keep her safe?"

"Of course I can, I am all powerful."

"More powerful than our esteemed Emperor?

Vader said nothing.

"I thought not," turning Bail laid Leia onto the soft bed, careful to remove the blanket.

"The Dark Side will help me overthrow him."

Bail looked at Vader, a grim smile on his face.

"Just like the Dark Side saved Padmé?"

Again Vader could say nothing, Organa was hitting all the right marks.

"If you take her Anakin, then Palpatine will have no use for you. He will kill you and raise Leia as a Sith, I won't let that happen."

_For my sake or her's_? Vader thought quietly.

"If Leia stays with Breha and myself however, then Palpatine will not kill you, and Leia can truly be safe."

"How?"

"Because of you. Because you have the power to use her Force abilities _against_ the Emperor and because she is our Princess. The Emperor will not let any harm come to a member of royalty, it would look follish on his part."

Vader nodded, Organa was right, if his child was to live, she would need to be protected from Palpatine.

"I will…cut certain ties, the owns that will allow her to access the Force willingly. It will diminish her presence so that my Master will look her over."

"And if she chooses the life of a Jedi?'

"Then she only needs to meditate on what she wants, and the ties will come back to her."

"Very well…we have Padmé's droids if you-"

"No, keep them. I have no more use for a droid."

"Very well then."

Vader took three strides and looked down at his baby girl. Only days old and he knew that she would look like her mother, and possibly like his own. His anger surged, Padmé would never hold her because of Palpatine's lies. Something she had done nudged the back of his skull. The Petition of 2000. Organa had the drive and connections for a rebellion to work.

"For her protection however, you must do something for me."

Bail stiffened, "and that is?"

"Burn this Empire to the ground, but leave Palpatine to me."

With that Vader cut Leia from the Force and strode out of the nursery, planning how to overthrow his Master.


	2. Padme

He did not have to hear his breathing to know he was there. Standing Bail Organa went to Lord Vader, much to the surprise of his advisers.

"Senator Organa," Vader said curtly, " we have much to discuss."

"Indeed." Bail replied, leading Vader further into his office.

Once inside and comfortably seated, the two men began to discuss the recent developments in their lives.

"Does she know?" Vader asked watching Organa carefully.

"She does, and she understands, though I do not believe she can forgive."

Vader frowned, "how much did you tell her?"

"My Lord, Leia may be ten, but I assure you she is intelligent beyond her years. Subconsciously using the Force to see if I was lying didn't help matters much."

"I see."

"Do you?"

Not for the first time in the past ten years, Lord Vader rolled his eyes. Did this man have to keep asking that question?

"Regardless, did you discover any information?"

"I had Padme's medical records sent to us, while she did not die in childbirth per se, she did die due to a ruptured uterus. Their findings were post mortem; apparently she had started bleeding during your…spat with Obi-Wan."

"Spat? I lost my limbs in a spat?!" Vader shouted, Sith anger rolling off him, feeding the darkside.

"You're still alive are you not? Hopefully you do not upset our good Emperor enough that you can come to Leia's recital."

Vader, though still fuming, lowered himself into the seat.

"I have been told that she is quite good," Organa continued, as if Vader's outburst had never happened, "If you wish, she can spend a day at the Senate where you can see her more often."

"That would be…exceptable." Vader rumbled

"She's very excited you see, she has always admired Padme Amidala, to find out that she is her daughter is very…well shall we say that she is in a very euphoric state right now. Padme was her idle, a literally embodiment of the Republic."

"At least she strives for the good."

"She is quite humble for her age, never letting the fact that she could have whatever she asked for go to her head."

"She s like her mother then?"

"In looks perhaps," Organa said leaning back in his seat, a smile across his face, "she is very uninhibited."

"So was Padme."

"On occasions yes, but Padme did not lift objects with the bat of an eye, or learn how the delicacies of astromechanics and spaceflight."

"She could piolet a craft." Vader said, trying to make Leia as little like him as possible.

"While flying at break neck speeds? Her temper is much like your's as well."

"Are you implying Senator, that my…youngling, is more prone to anger and injure?"

"Injure no, anger yes. It's actually quite charming really, an adviser of mine Carlist Rieekan plays little jokes on Leia. While she may pretend to brush it off, she quietly plans a…counter attack. All with the wonder masks we politicians wear."

Vader was silent for a moment, then, "so I actually have to _try_ to stop the Rebellion, I can't just "brush it off"?"

"I can already see a very interesting conversation between the two of you."

The two men rose, Bail offering to let Vader go through the door before him. Before he opened the door however Vader looked over his shoulder at the Viceroy.

"She has every right to call you her father, that much you've earned."

Exiting Lord Vader could hear the whispers of the nosy advisers, knowing that none of them had heard their conversation.

"Thank you Lord Vader, at noon then?"

Noon? Then it hit him, Leia's recital.

"As you wish Viceroy." He said, leaving the advisers more baffled than before.


	3. Anakin

It is the first and only time I will ever have my daughter alone and safe with me. Together the two of us are curled up in my chambers playing random games while Senator Organa is at a political function. It's not that I mind, I really don't. It only bothers me that maybe I was wrong in assuming that Leia was like her mother.

Until recently I believed that all royalty and dignitaries were naturally graceful. My daughter, who painstakingly tried to explain the finer points of ballet, proved me wrong. Which is what _all_ of the before mentioned learned how to be so graceful.

It took three hours for her to summarize what ballet did for these kinds of people. Mostly it was for balance and composure; later on it would be used for teaching the future rulers how to keep a serene smile on their face while doing a difficult move. It reminded me of how the Senators could handle such shocking news with such lighthearted grace.

That was why I could see Padmé within her eyes and smile, but underneath, the only thing that belonged to Padmé was the girl's ability to analyze and read the game of politics.

The rest was all me.

I first noticed it when I was teaching her to play a card game called Sabacc. Though Bail was cautious of it, I thought it was a great was for Leia to learn how to call a man's bluff and tell if they're lying or not.

That was why we were in my pressurized chambers; so I could take my helmet off and she could see my face freely.

She smiled when she first saw my face; she's wanted to see it since she was seven. I told her that once she was able to read me eyes and detect a lie then we could use the voice modulator to test her further.

That was the next hint. She relishes the chance to prove you wrong, regardless of what it was. Mostly because she was an inspired child in a male-dominant society. She even reminded me a bit of myself when I was a padawan; I hated lectures, and she hates them even more.

What finally convinced me that I was wrong was the way she played Dejarik with me.

I honestly felt like I was back in the Clone Wars, where we had to analyze every move before we actually made one. Unfortunately neither of us had the upper hand, both of us being Force-sensitive. Not that I mind, it just made me focus more.

Way more.

It was a tie between the two of us; I had won five, she had won five, and some hundred more had ended as a stalemate.

So she was good tactician, which was good. It would keep her alive longer when she actually did join the rebellion. It was something we briefly spoke about: what her plans for the Rebellion would be, what she hoped to bring to the Rebellion.

I made the mistake about asking her about her views on the Force. Her statement actually shocked me! I thought she would be pro-Jedi and anti-Sith.

"I don't believe in sides. If the Force is around us and within us as you say then it is the person's choice of how he or she uses it. A person should be responsible for his or her actions regardless of whether he is a Jedi, Sith, or non-sensitive."

I had to give her that, mostly because she was right. We did however talk about other things like political leaders and high-ranking officials.

The kid could hold grudges just as well as her father. I was even more pleased to learn that the only person he hated more that Palpatine was Governor Tarkin. Apparently the Grand Moff grated so badly on her nerves that she orchestrated his most recent embarrassment at a social gathering a week ago, and was never caught.

She told Bail on the way home, but she didn't get in trouble. I thought it was rather funny that Bail had actually suggest that she tried getting all the Moffs at once, mostly because her recent stunt was the reason for her being with me tonight.

She's devious, manipulative, and cunning. Definitely my child. I actually felt bad for Bail; Leia was only twelve. What would happen when she discovered boys?


	4. of the Jedi

He's never heartless; he always does something for a reason.

They call him a Sith Lord, but I know that it's not true.

The Sith a merciless and power hungry.

My father is neither.

My father was Bail Organa. He would repeat it over and over, knowing that he could never be the man to raise me right. That was a father's job.

He was more of a fairy tale godmother, though I think a Guardian Angel is a more apt term.

Guardian.

He was a Guardian of the Jedi, and he destroyed all of them except two. One he could never find, the other was to close to him to kill. But as I said, he never does things without reason.

As I am whisked away in a flying piece of scrap metal, I think back to what he did in the viewing room. My fear had been out of control, deep in my heart I knew that the death of my Alderaan was not his fault is was the monster standing next to us.

_He pulled me close to him, trying to protect me from the Empire as he always had. The only problem was when the first and final blast was shot. The voices and cries of my people echoed in my mind and my heart; their pain resonating in the Force._

_The very thing I ignored now threw the death of millions in my face. The anguish, pain, laughter, joy, indifference. Everything that my fellow Alderi had felt in their last seconds of life, now poured into my mind. The pain was worse then a vat of hot oil falling onto exposed skin._

_Nothing._

_Just as it had come, it left no more pain, no more emotion. Everything was gone…dead._

I know he felt it. I was so close to him during those harrowing moments that I could hear his cry above my own, above the sounds of my planet being torn apart.

_Anakin Skywalker._

The name touches something in my memory. I have heard the name before, though I do not know where. He was a Jedi Knight according to his son. Maybe that's where I heard his name. My father and my Guardian talked frequently about the Jedi and the Clone Wars.

I can sense my Guardian above us, in the same death trap I had just escaped from. I pray the Force that he will not be in the Death Star when Luke makes this final run. I know my Guardian will not shot. Again I can sense him.

He has never lost control of his ship, so I know that when his ship goes flying away from the Death Star, that he is allowing Luke to take the final strike against the very thing that cut me so deeply.

He let Luke alone so that he could destroy the Death Star. He never touched me, always dismissing his men, before staying in my cell to calm me. He did not kill me when he discovered me on the Tantive IV, because I am his flesh and blood, the last link he has to his sanity.

He has never been heartless, he does things for a reason, not without.

It is for that reason alone, that I know he is still on of the Jedi.


End file.
